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>> The dark web showcases the worst parts of the internet Are there any useful websites on the 'dark web'? I'm thinking of the kind of things we hundreds of mi

>> The dark web showcases the worst parts of the internet Are there any useful websites on the 'dark web'? I'm thinking of the kind of things we hundreds of millions use every day that are legal (social networks, email, youtube, etc.). If so why aren't more people using them? And if not that seems like the easiest way to change the image of the 'dark web' and bring more regular people on to it.

r3bl 9y ago
Facebook? DuckDuckGo?
- k-mcgrady 9y ago
  My idea was more of a site like Facebook but ONLY available over TOR. Something people want/need to use and TOR is the only access method.
  - wolfgke 9y ago
    > My idea was more of a site like Facebook but ONLY available over TOR. Something people want/need to use and TOR is the only access method. Silk Road ;-)
13of40 9y ago
I haven't tried TOR for some time, but when I did, it was about an order of magnitude slower and less reliable than a regular internet connection. It's not something like SSL that you can just turn on and get decent privacy for relatively little cost. If you wanted to order a pizza or shop for car parts, it wouldn't make sense to do it over a slow connection for anonymity you don't need.
- hellbanner 9y ago
  You're right, for the individual. TOR's site actually recommends using TOR no matter who you are, in order to provide cover for people you might care about who are in danger of being attacked from using TOR eg. activists
snakeanus 9y ago
There are a few GNU social instances which provide tor access. There are also a few legal imageboards and forums that one could use. As for email, is it possible to even send an email via tor? If so that would be really cool.
- jessaustin 9y ago
  ISTM one could use TOR to contact an open relay? The server would just think it was talking to the TOR exit node, right?
- klez 9y ago
  > As for email, is it possible to even send an email via tor? There's onionnail[0] whose author I can personally vouch for from the point of view of his intentions. About the security of it all, I have to admit I'm not qualified to judge. [0] http://en.onionmail.info/ http://en.onionmail.info/
MBCook 9y ago
Basically... no. I read a post recently where someone tried to calculate what percentage of TOR sites were legal/legit. I thought it was from Bruce Schneier but I can't find it so I may be wrong. The person found a handful of thins like Facebook were available and some big journalistic organizations can be contacted that way. There were a number of indexes of known .onion URLs. Most of the rest was hacker services for sale, scam sites, child porn, etc. Outside of passing info to journalists (not much traffic) or talking where state censors couldn't find you in a repressed regeime... what would make 'the dark web' useful enough to normal people that it would get used in any sort of scale? There's an obvious advantage for criminals to use it but I don't see something to compel non-criminals. Thus it seems to have sort of naturally segregated into a mostly criminal thing.
- Forbo 9y ago
  Anybody who wants to avoid the surveillance economy would benefit from using anonymity networks.
- stale2002 9y ago
  In most 1st world countries, there isn't much censorship, so obviously most people wouldn't have much of a reason to use a service like tor, where the 1 and only important feature is censorship resistence. If governments or powerful corporations start to engage in more censorship in the future, then more people will have a motivation to protect themselves against censorship.
- c22 9y ago
  It makes sense that "legit" sites on tor would also be available on the wider web, they're trying to seek as many viewers as possible and they have nothing to hide. The benefit of offering access over tor is delivered to the end user in the same way the library won't disclose to arbitrary parties the books you've checked out.
stale2002 9y ago
The main feature of tor and dark web sites is to get around censorship. If you don't care about the feature of censorship resistence, perhaps because nothing that you do is controversial or interesting enough to be in danger of being censored, then you obviously wouldn't have much reason to use tor. If, on the other hand, governments and/or powerful corporations engage in more censorship in the future, then more people will have a reason to use a censorship resistant service.

r3bl 9y ago

Facebook? DuckDuckGo?

k-mcgrady 9y ago
My idea was more of a site like Facebook but ONLY available over TOR. Something people want/need to use and TOR is the only access method.
- wolfgke 9y ago
  > My idea was more of a site like Facebook but ONLY available over TOR. Something people want/need to use and TOR is the only access method. Silk Road ;-)

13of40 9y ago

I haven't tried TOR for some time, but when I did, it was about an order of magnitude slower and less reliable than a regular internet connection. It's not something like SSL that you can just turn on and get decent privacy for relatively little cost. If you wanted to order a pizza or shop for car parts, it wouldn't make sense to do it over a slow connection for anonymity you don't need.

hellbanner 9y ago
You're right, for the individual. TOR's site actually recommends using TOR no matter who you are, in order to provide cover for people you might care about who are in danger of being attacked from using TOR eg. activists

snakeanus 9y ago

There are a few GNU social instances which provide tor access. There are also a few legal imageboards and forums that one could use. As for email, is it possible to even send an email via tor? If so that would be really cool.

jessaustin 9y ago
ISTM one could use TOR to contact an open relay? The server would just think it was talking to the TOR exit node, right?
klez 9y ago
> As for email, is it possible to even send an email via tor? There's onionnail[0] whose author I can personally vouch for from the point of view of his intentions. About the security of it all, I have to admit I'm not qualified to judge. [0] http://en.onionmail.info/ http://en.onionmail.info/

MBCook 9y ago

Basically... no. I read a post recently where someone tried to calculate what percentage of TOR sites were legal/legit. I thought it was from Bruce Schneier but I can't find it so I may be wrong. The person found a handful of thins like Facebook were available and some big journalistic organizations can be contacted that way. There were a number of indexes of known .onion URLs. Most of the rest was hacker services for sale, scam sites, child porn, etc. Outside of passing info to journalists (not much traffic) or talking where state censors couldn't find you in a repressed regeime... what would make 'the dark web' useful enough to normal people that it would get used in any sort of scale? There's an obvious advantage for criminals to use it but I don't see something to compel non-criminals. Thus it seems to have sort of naturally segregated into a mostly criminal thing.

Forbo 9y ago
Anybody who wants to avoid the surveillance economy would benefit from using anonymity networks.
stale2002 9y ago
In most 1st world countries, there isn't much censorship, so obviously most people wouldn't have much of a reason to use a service like tor, where the 1 and only important feature is censorship resistence. If governments or powerful corporations start to engage in more censorship in the future, then more people will have a motivation to protect themselves against censorship.
c22 9y ago
It makes sense that "legit" sites on tor would also be available on the wider web, they're trying to seek as many viewers as possible and they have nothing to hide. The benefit of offering access over tor is delivered to the end user in the same way the library won't disclose to arbitrary parties the books you've checked out.

stale2002 9y ago

The main feature of tor and dark web sites is to get around censorship. If you don't care about the feature of censorship resistence, perhaps because nothing that you do is controversial or interesting enough to be in danger of being censored, then you obviously wouldn't have much reason to use tor. If, on the other hand, governments and/or powerful corporations engage in more censorship in the future, then more people will have a reason to use a censorship resistant service.